Lost Legacy

Summary: Lilia was about to escape to her beloved mountains when her village is assaulted. Who were they and where did they come from? A legacy is found and a destiny is forged. Short story

The Beginning

Lilia stared at the old man sitting across from her. His wizened face bent over the soup that was
their supper. She smiled with affection
at his bowed head, Lodar had been her foster father since she was a child when
her parents were killed. He had raised
her with the knowledge of the mountains and forests that surrounded them in all
their majesty. He had always said that
she had a gift with nature, that the energy from the earth flowed through her. All she knew was that she felt complete in
the mountains and forests, she felt it's ebb and flow of life. Which was far better than the existence they
led inside the walls of the village. The
village was small and had little by the way of technology. They worked the land by hand and everything
was done through back breaking labor. Led
by a corrupt government, her village and all those around her led a hard life,
full of fear and poverty. The leaders
were the only ones who benefited, living in their luxurious houses and sending
out their collectors to take what meagre savings or goods the villagers had. There were whispers that there were wondrous
machines in their houses that made their lives easy but it was all rumor. All Lilia knew was that they had nothing and
each meal was put on the table by the grace of Mother nature. But that would soon change, Lilia had been
building her own little haven in the mountains and soon it would be ready for
her and Lodar.

"Is
the soup good, father?" she asked the silent man across from her. "It
is not too hot for you, I hope. I had
saved all the best vegetable under the floor so those pig collectors couldn't
take them."

"You
take too many chances, my dear." Lodar shook his head glumly, "I fear
one day it will get you into trouble and I will not be able to help you."

"Don't
you fear, father. Soon we will be gone
from this place and be free in the mountains.
I almost have it ready." She
smiled happily, "You will see it will be wonderful and we will never have
to bow to these cretins again!"

"Lilia
I….." Suddenly the ground shook and
a loud crash was heard outside. Lilia
grabbed the table as the entire house seemed to shift.

"What
was that?" She asked
fearfully. There was another loud
explosion followed by the sounds of smaller ones all around them.

"Get
down!" Lodar yelled, "Come here child, quickly. We must go to the cellar at once." More explosions could be heard and then
yelling as the towns soldiers could be heard in the streets. Sounds of weapons fire could be heard as the
small rifles that were the towns only defence shot off round after round. Another crash was heard and the rifles went
silent. Lilia ran across the room
towards Lodar and together they ran into the cellar, closing the door over
their head. For what seemed an eternity the
battle waged outside their walls against an unknown foe and then there was
silence.

They sat in
the dark for a while and then Lilia asked, "Do you think it is safe to go
out yet? I hear no more sounds, I think
it is all over now."

"We do
not know what is out there!" Lodar whispered, "It could still be
dangerous."

"What
would anyone want with us," Lilia
reasoned as she felt around for the latch to the door. "We have nothing
and are no threat to anyone. It won't
hurt to look and at least see what has happened. Maybe another town's praetoriate decided to
take over here. Ligar was always a
spineless leader." She found the
latch and pushed open the door to the cellar.
The fire flickered and spread a glow over the room which did not seem to
be damaged in any way. Lilia stood and
listened, silenced reigned outside. She
went to the window and peaked out. There,
hovering above their village were several spheres with lights shining out their
sides.

"What
is it?" Lodar asked from the cellar
door.

"I
don't know. I've never seen anything
like this. It most definitely is not
another village, in fact I don't think they are from here at all."

"What
do you mean, not from here? That doesn't
even make sense. If they are not from
here then where? Across the great sea? Over the spiked mountains to the west? Where?", Lodar harumphed with
irritation, "come girl, spit it out."

"I
don't think they are from this planet father." Lilia turned to stare at her foster father
with wide frightened eyes, "they have ships that hover with strange
markings down the side. They almost look
like the runes you have shown me."

Lodar
stared at Lilia intently. Could it be….
"Are you sure my child?"

"Positive
father. They…" Suddenly there was
pounding on the door.

"Open
up." A voice outside shouted and at Lodar's curt nod Lilia slowly opened
the door. A strange man stood outside in
an odd uniform but he looked like them not the scary monster Lilia had dreamed
up.

"All
villagers must attend to the main hall immediately," the man said sharply, "There are no
exceptions. We will escort you
there." The man stood in the
doorway making it apparent that he meant business so Lilia quickly found a sweater
for herself and Lodar and followed him out.
As they walked to the hall they could see other villagers being escorted
also and buildings on fire. Although as
Lilia looked closely she could see that none of the houses were burning, only
where the weapons were kept and the barracks for the soldiers and other
buildings of Ligar's so called defence force.

Lodar
leaned towards Lilia and grasped her hand tightly. "Whatever you do child, hold your
tongue. We do not need to antagonize
anyone. Please for me." Lilia waved her hand dismissively and Lodar
squeezed it tighter. "Please."

"I
will try and hold my tongue father. But
I will not be trampled on by these brutes either. Not while I'm so close to freeing
us." Lodar shook his head and
prayed to the Goddess of the mountain that his foster daughter would, for once,
keep her fiery temper in check. They were
waved into the crowded building where all the other villagers had amassed. Fearful whispers could be heard throughout
the room.

"Who
are they?"

"Did
you see their ships, they say each one holds a thousand men."

Lilia was
looking around trying to gauge where the guards were standing when she noticed
that everyone had fallen silent. She
looked up to see several men standing on the dais and coming to the front was a
tall commanding figure. He easily topped
Lodar, who was quite tall, by a head.
His face was stern and handsome, framed by a black, neatly trimmed
beard. But it was his eyes that Lilia
noticed first, they were intense and dark as night. They scanned the room and seemed to miss
nothing. All eyes were on him as he stood
and surveyed all those crowded in the room.

"My
name is General Vadim and I want to thank you all for coming here.." He
began, his deep voice resonating in the hall.

"We
didn't have much of a choice, " Lilia heard herself snipe and she cringed
as Lodar's foot came down hard on hers.
The tall man's eyes sought her out and stared at her intently. Lilia refused to give an inch and thrust her
small chin up as she tried, and failed, to stare him down.

He smiled
slightly, "No you didn't, but I appreciate that there was no reason to use
force." He looked out at the crowd
again. "Do not fear we are not here
to harm you, but to help you. Although
it may not seem like it, in time all will become clear to you. In the meantime I ask that you continue with
your daily routine but no one is to leave the village confines. There will be guards posted at all exits and
there are no exceptions!"

"So
basically we are your prisoners then?"
Lilia asked scathingly, "and we are to fall down and thank you for
not hurting us."

"Lilia!" Lodar's horrified voice sounded in here ear,
"For goodness sakes child, shut your mouth." Lilia felt a twinge of remorse when she heard
the angst in her foster father's voice, but not leaving the village meant she
could not go to the mountains. She would
die if you could not be in her beloved nature.

General
Vadim stared at her again, his face giving away nothing. "No you are not
prisoners as you so eloquently put it.
It is for your own safety and the safety of others that this has to
be. As I said all will be come apparent
in time." Lilia opened her mouth to
speak again when at his wit's end Lodar clamped his hand over her mouth. Surprised at the strength of his grip, Lilia
bit her tongue. She spun around and
swept out of the room aware of the General's eyes drilling into her back. To her surprise no one tried to stop her as
she left.

SandraHan1:
This story is very descriptive, with vivid scenes from the very beginning, which made for a good scene setting. I love the symbolism in names, such as “Naysayers”, “Hadd”, etc . The story itself is revolutionary, intriguing, emotional and exciting. I was very pleased to see that there is a happy ...

snowview03:
This is the first book I have read on this app and I loved it! When I read the title I thought about the hunger games, but this novel is so much more. Some book have a comparison between other books that fallow like premises so i will do my own: Arena has the compellingly emotional stresses and t...

Carole Troup:
A good read for a paranormal lover. There are multiple different types of beings here a dragon ,warlock , witch, vampire Slayer, gargoyle, vampires a few more I am not listing. this is a nice read not overly violent. However there is fighting and bloodshed. A Love story, wrapped in a vampire war,...

re8622:
The Last Exodus quickly grabbed my attention. Almost as soon as I started reading the story, I couldn't put it down. I found that the ideas the author put forth were very thought provoking given the turmoil we have seen gradually rise over the last several years. I felt that I could understand th...

spatiaangelus :
Loved reading this novel. the intricacy of the storyline, the amount of detail and the development of the plot was amazing.Not only is it a unique read, I found it utterly enjoyable and cannot wait to read more

Sonali Srivastava:
It is very Fancinating to read a story full of Fantasy and specially when love is not complete as story , I really like the Imagination of Author and his writing skill, u dictated everything so beautifuly that when I read it I lost in the story and I hope I will read soon the second year of Zakir...

Drew C. Elyon:
I've only read one chapter so far, but from what I've seen, this is steampunk at its best. The narrative flows so beautifully I could envision every scene in an almost cinematic fashion. I believe in the complexity of simplicity, and this story has that in its descriptions.

Diana Chernenko:
I liked this book. Even if the idea of book isn't so new. "girl that should save the world with her super powers." sometimes I thought that she is too overpowered, and I was sometimes really annoyed by her, and felt sorry for her friends and Derek. Moreover I didn't like first chapters when the...

Nanasha:
I thought I'd written a comment on this story, but for some reason, I guess it didn't go through. Anyway, so this story is intensely addictive. I liked how the author uses established mythology but then gives it a unique twist. The idea of goblins all coming from the head of the king is an ama...

uccowade:
im not quite done....200 pages left. very well written. my only criticism would be the minor spelling, grammar and structure errors. needs more polishing....regardless I was able determine how word or sentences were likely intended to be written. errors we're relatively minor in frequency and...

Jordano Quaglia:
I was taken to the future, to the shock of worlds among the people in the underground versus the mutants. The characters are well defined and rich in details, as I felt that I empathized well with them and envied their adventures while being scared by their predicament. It i a world that I would ...

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